Il Makiage, which was originally launched in the US by makeup artist Ilana Harkavi in 1972, acquired in 2013 by Israeli businessman Oran Holtzman, and which LVMH invested in last June, returned to the States this summer. To help the brand arrive in style they teamed up with Socialfly for what shaped up as a win-win business relationship: “We wanted to partner with Il Makiage,” explains Stephanie Cartin, co-founder and co-CEO of Socialfly, “because we knew that we could make a fast and lasting impact for the brand using our proven social media tactics."
Cosmetics Design: Please summarize the Il Makiage brief.
Socialfly: Our team was tasked with generating a significant number of new followers on Instagram for the brand prior to their launch in the US. The brand wanted to have a following before they [were] officially launching in June. Our parameters at the time were to not reveal too much about the brand and figure out a way to build a following for an unknown brand.
Cosmetics Design: What was your strategy for the Il Makiage project?
Socialfly: We chose to partner with 2 macro beauty influencers that have demonstrated high engagement rates from their followers. We tasked them each with hosting a giveaway on their Instagram accounts. To help the giveaways really stand out, we decided to offer luxurious prizes and have numerous winners. One of the influencers offered one grand prize winner a designer bag filled with Il Makiage makeup, along with prizes for 20 runner-ups. Our second macro influencer offered one grand prize winner the entire line of makeup, along with smaller prizes for 50 runner-ups. In both cases, entrants were required to follow Il Makiage on Instagram as well as tag their friends in the comments to help attract more people to the posts. Several makeup accounts and smaller influencers were also contracted to provide some additional support during the giveaway period.
Cosmetics Design: How did the team at Socialfly execute the project?
Socialfly: We worked very closely with the influencers and their agents throughout the project to help ensure that the campaign would run smoothly. Prior to content creation from the influencers, we developed creative guidelines for the talent and had them approved by the Il Makiage team to ensure that we were all on the same page.
Cosmetics Design: How do measure ROI for a project like this?
Socialfly: We measured ROI for this project by the amount of follower growth the Influencers in the campaign were able to generate. Over a two week period our team successfully grew the Il Makiage Instagram account by over 14K new fans. In addition, we also evaluated the total number of engagements on the sponsored posts (300K+), the total potential reach (9M+), and the number of profile visits to the IL MAKIAGE Instagram page (45K+).
Cosmetics Design: What else should beauty makers know about using social media?
Socialfly: Success on social media stems from the brand voice of a company or individual. People follow and engage with brands and influencers whose messages they feel connected too. Once the voice is clearly defined, the next step is to create engaging content that speaks to the audience you are trying to reach and inspire.
Learn more about Socialfly here and discover 'Like, Love, Follow' (a guidebook for building a brand's social presence) by Stephanie Cartin and Courtney Spritzer here.
This article was updated on 16-Nov-18 to better reflect the Socialfly strategy and ROI metrics.
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Deanna Utroske, CosmeticsDesign.com Editor, covers beauty business news in the Americas region and publishes the weekly Indie Beauty Profile column, showcasing the inspiring work of entrepreneurs and innovative brands.